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Political Beliefs
political beliefs/political behaviors
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Attentive Public | those who follow politics and public affairs carefully |
| Australian Ballot | secret ballot printed at the expense of the state |
| Blanket Primary | election to choose candidates that is open to independents, and allows voters to choose candidates from all parties |
| Caucus | local party meeting |
| closed primary | party election to choose candidates that is closed to independents. voters may not cross party lines |
| coattail effect | the influence of a popular presidential candidate on the election of congressional candidates of the same party |
| demographics | characteristics of population e.g, race, sex, income. |
| direct election | election of an official directly by the people rather than by an intermediary group such as the electoral college |
| direct primary | election in which the people choose candidates to office |
| fixed terms | terms of office that have a definite length of time, e.g, two years a member of a house |
| front loading | scheduling presidential primary elections early (e.g, February or March) in an election year |
| Gender gap | difference in voting patterns for men and women, particularly in the greater tendency of the latter to vote for democratic presidential candidates |
| general election | election in which the officeholders are chosen. contrast with a primary election, in which only the candidates are chosen. |
| Hard money | campaign contributions donated directly to candidates |
| Ideology | set of beliefs about political values and the role of the government |
| Incumbent | an officeholder who is seeking reelection |
| Independent | one is not registered with apolitical party. Independent learners tend to vote for candidates of one particular party, whereas pure independents have no consistent pattern of party doing |
| issue advocacy ads | ads that focus on issues and do not explicitly encourage citizens to vote for a certain candidate |
| open primary | election to choose candidates that is open independents, and in which voters may choose candidates from any one party |
| party identification | a sense of affiliation that a person has with a particular political party |
| party platform | a list of positions and programs that the party adopts at the national convention. Each position is called a plank |
| political culture | the widely shared beliefs, values, and norms that citizens share about their government |
| plurality | more voters than anyone else, but less than half, e.g, Clinton won a plurality (43%) of popular votes in 1992, but no majority. Plurality elections such as those for congress are won by the person with the most votes, regardless if he/she has a majority |
| political efficacy | capacity to understand and influence political events |
| political socialization | process in which one acquires his/her political beliefs |
| Realigning ("critical") election | an election in which there is a long term change in party alignment, e.g., 1932 |
| safe seat | an office that is extremely likely to be won by a particular candidate or political party |
| single member district system | system in which the people elect one representative per district. with a winner-take-all rule, this system strengthens the two major parties and weaken minor paties |
| soft money | campaign contributions that are not donated directly to candidates, but are instead donated to parties |
| solid south | historically, the south voted solidly Democratic. However, the south is now strongly Republican: Bush carried every southern state in 2000. |
| split ticket voting | casting votes for candidates of ones own party and for candidates of opposing parties,e.g., voting for a republican presidential candidate and a democratic congressional candidate |
| straight ticket voting | casting votes only for candidates of ones party |
| suffrage | the right to vote |
| Super delegate | a delegate to the democratic national convention who is there by virtue of holding an office |
| super Tuesday | a Tuesday in early March in which many presidential primaries, particularly in the South, are held. |
| Swing State | a state that does not consistently vote either Democratic or republican in presidential elections |